Jennifer Hunter, MFA

Jennifer Hunter received her BM from Southwest Baptist University and her MFA in theater directing from Baylor University in 2000. Hunter joined the University of Northwestern faculty as Professor and Director of Theater in 2014. She has been honored as a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, New York, in 2009, the Directors Lab North, Toronto, in 2011, a Juilliard Directing Fellow in 2012, and studied under Richard Rose at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, Canada in 2018. While at Baylor, Jennifer served as an intern in New York under the renowned director Michael Bogdanov on the musical in workshop Lone Star Love with Jim Belushi (Dodger Productions). She also spent a summer as a casting assistant with Bernard Telsey Casting (now Telsey + Company) working on the Broadway productions of Rent and De La Guarda.

Jennifer was recognized nationally by the Kennedy Center in 2024 for her work on UNW Theatre’s The Night Witches, the amazing true story of how Russian women pilots helped win WWII. This production won awards such as: Outstanding Direction of a Play or Musical, Outstanding Performance and Production Ensemble, The Citizen Artist Award, Facilitation of a Brave Rehearsal Space, Outstanding Production of a Play or Musical, and Distinguished Choreography or Movement Direction. The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival invited the full production of the cast and crew from UNW to perform The Night Witches at the region V festival in Des Moines, Iowa. Jennifer was invited to receive national awards at the Kennedy Center in April 2025, and be a guest artist, teaching the directing fellows “The fusion of Directing, Movement, and Design.” Here is a link to see footage of the show at the festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa1HRXBXPxI

In 2019, Jennifer also received national awards from the Kennedy Center for her adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland”. This production was also invited to play at the KCACTF region V festival in Sioux Falls, SD. Awards include: Special Commendation for Directing, Distinguished Production of a New Work, and Distinguished Performance and Production ensemble. Her adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” won recognition for a new musical work, invited scene and costume parade from KCACTF in 2023. That Spring, to honor her work on “Romeo and Juliet”, UNW gave her the “Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship”.

To view her various play and musical adaptations visit her website at jenniferkhunter.com